Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A Woman in Her Thirties is a (Re)Patriot

I love the fourth of July for two reasons. One, it reminds me of childhoods spent at the pool. Every fourth of July meant father-daughter races, holding pies on the diving board for the annual auction, and scouring the lawn in the weeks afterward for loose change dropped from swimmers' pockets. Good, good times.

The second reason I love the fourth is because I have a newfound appreciation for my country after living overseas for three years. In China, I was an 'ex-patriot', a horrible term implying that I have broken up with my home country in favor of another. Don't get me wrong-- I love China and loved my experience there. But if there's one thing that my time abroad taught me, it's that we've got it pretty rad over here, all things considered. Take a day during the summer to drink beer, grill out, and be thankful for it.

So that's what we did. Here's Anna, with her stars and stripes:And here are a few images from the Pleasantville Parade. We showed our love for our fire fighters:Our Veterans:Our horses with sparkly hooves:Our clowns:Our marching bands:Our superheroes:And our dogs:(Alright, fine. Dan was technically not a part of the parade. Here he is hiding between L's legs-- he wasn't terribly excited about all the noise.)

The rest of the day was spent swimming and barbequing, and hanging with (making out with) friends:And last night, as I rocked Anna back to sleep after the fireworks woke her up, I couldn't help but think that I'd just spent my most perfect woman-in-her-thirties Fourth of July yet. I was thankful for my city, thankful for my friends, thankful for my country, slightly tan and filled to the brim with good food. Just as our forefathers intended.